Horse races are competitions in which horses run over a set course, usually on a dirt track. They have been a popular sport throughout history in cultures around the world. Ancient chariot racing is recorded in Homer’s Iliad, and bareback (mounted) horse races are described by Greek author Xenophon as early as the 5th century bc. In modern times, thoroughbred racing is among the most popular spectator sports. It has a reputation for being fast and exciting. Its most famous event is the horse race in Siena, Italy, called Il Palio.
The earliest documented horse races were match contests between two horses, but pressure from the public led to standardized events with many competitors. The most prestigious races are called condition races, and offer the largest purses. In these races, each horse is assigned a weight to carry for fairness, but allowances are made based on sex, age, and training.
To be competitive in a horse race, a horse must be healthy and well trained. Some races are conducted over long courses, and winning one requires speed and stamina. Others, like the steeplechase, are arduous and dangerous for the horses. The most famous steeplechase is the Palio di Siena, held on July 2 and August 16 in the city of Siena, in central Italy. Each year, a different combination of a horse and rider represents one of the seventeen Contrade, or city wards. A magnificent pageant precedes the main event, which attracts visitors and viewers from all over the world.
Most horse races are run by Thoroughbreds, a breed developed in England for racing and jumping. In America, most races are contested by Quarter Horses, which are shorter than Thoroughbreds but more muscular. Quarter Horses are good at sprinting and do not require as much stamina as Thoroughbreds.
During the race, horses are monitored for signs of injury and illness. If a horse is found to be lame, it must be pulled from the race and may not return to competition until fully healed. Many horses are pushed beyond their limits, and they are often given cocktails of legal and illegal drugs to mask injuries and enhance performance. This can cause the horses to bleed from their lungs, a condition known as exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage.
There are essentially three types of people in horse racing: the crooks who dangerously drug their horses and dare the industry to catch them, the dupes who labor under the fantasy that the sport is broadly fair and honest, and the masses in the middle who know it’s more crooked than it ought to be but don’t do all they can to fix the problem. The recent report by The Times and the video upon which it is based allows people to see for themselves a bit of what’s really going on at the highest levels of the sport. Virtually no one outside racing cares how PETA got the video, just as they don’t care about how a newspaper like The Times hitches its wagon to activists who racing insiders love to hate.
